Noticeboard on Northcross Road

[Sue]

19 hours ago, Pugwash said:

 If I remember correctly, it was the Lib. Dem councillors in ED that initiated the boards.

Thanks, Pugwash.

Probably James Barber?

If that's the case, would he/they not have also set up some system for maintaining the information on the boards?

Maybe they didn't care when they were (sadly) voted out, but I would have thought they would have made sure something was still in place?

[Sue]

Crofton Park (borough of Lewisham) has a community notice board which as well as listing councillors is full of notices about local community activities of all sorts and for all ages.

It is clean and tidy and only has one small fly poster (attached with one very small piece of tape, and easily removed - I didn't though).

Crofton Park also has a lovely little community garden alongside the station, full of flowers, with lots of things of interest to kids,  and also obviously lovingly maintained.

I don't know who the land belongs to - possibly the station, though access is via the adjoining road.

If Lewisham council/Crofton Park residents can maintain a community notice board, why can't Southwark Council/East Dulwich residents?

ETA: As an unrelated aside, Crofton Park seems to be in the midst (?)  of gentrification.

Edited June 18 by Sue

[Pugwash]

James  may have initiated the boards but there would have been a group of people who would have taken in turn to keep boards up to date. When locks and boards were vandalised  it took some while (around 2 years) for the council to repair/replace and many of the group who maintained them, moved/died. I know James was not seen so much in ED due to  family  illness/bereavement  and I believe he also changed his job.  

 

[Jellybeanz]

On 07/06/2025 at 07:09, Sue said:

Have you changed your mind about taking the task on which Monica used to do, then?

I'd love this task if I was entrusted with a key! 

Unfortunately that hasn't and won't happen... the noticeboard will contain pointless councillors details and nothing more. The end.

The noticeboard (brand new) has now been removed from outside ED station. What a waste of all of our taxes/money.

On 13/06/2025 at 09:58, Sue said:

Surely it is not an "advert" for councillors?

Why do you put "local" in inverted commas? Why the (lol)? What is so amusing?

The board  is telling people who their councillors are. What on earth is "frivolous" about that?

If you are so  concerned about the lack of information on the boards, why don't you do something about it (eg contact your local councillor with suggestions) instead of moaning on here?

Because my dear Sue, the local councillors rarely reply Zzzzzz

[Sue]

11 hours ago, Jellybeanz said:

I'd love this task if I was entrusted with a key! 

Unfortunately that hasn't and won't happen... the noticeboard will contain pointless councillors details and nothing more. The end.

The noticeboard (brand new) has now been removed from outside ED station. What a waste of all of our taxes/money.

Because my dear Sue, the local councillors rarely reply Zzzzzz

Why do you say "that hasn't and won't happen"?

Why do you not ask for a key, if you would "love this task"? Monica had a key before, and possibly so did others. 

She still works locally. If you don't know her, I can ask her how you can get a key.

There is no reason why the noticeboard should only contain councillors' details (although surely it is important that those are publicised locally?)

Why do you say it will contain nothing more?

The Crofton Park noticeboard contains a lot of other useful  community information (not from businesses) .

Do you know why the notice board has been removed from outside ED station?

Clearly the councillors sometimes reply, or nothing at all would have been done about the notice boards 

Why do you sarcastically call me "my dear Sue" and add a zzzzzz?

It is you who started this thread about noticeboards, which is now on its third page, and just as your campaign is succeeding, you appear to be implying that it was a complete waste of time!

[Jellybeanz]

Why do you say "that hasn't and won't happen"? - It has not happened and I do not believe it will.

Why do you not ask for a key, if you would "love this task"?  I have requested a key but have not had any reply to my email. Who would you suggest I ask?

She still works locally. If you don't know her, I can ask her how you can get a key - Please do. Thanks.

There is no reason why the noticeboard should only contain councillors' details (although surely it is important that those are publicised locally?)

Why do you say it will contain nothing more? Because it does not contain anything more - see noticeboard (has been there quite a few months now!).

Do you know why the notice board has been removed from outside ED station? No sadly I don't - poss during pavement works?

[Sue]

3 hours ago, Jellybeanz said:

Why do you say "that hasn't and won't happen"? - It has not happened and I do not believe it will.

Why do you not ask for a key, if you would "love this task"?  I have requested a key but have not had any reply to my email. Who would you suggest I ask?

She still works locally. If you don't know her, I can ask her how you can get a key - Please do. Thanks.

There is no reason why the noticeboard should only contain councillors' details (although surely it is important that those are publicised locally?)

Why do you say it will contain nothing more? Because it does not contain anything more - see noticeboard (has been there quite a few months now!).

Do you know why the notice board has been removed from outside ED station? No sadly I don't - poss during pavement works?

I find that very confusing to read, because you have not separated what I said in my previous post from your reply in a way that makes it easy to see who said what.

It also makes it very hard to respond to what you have said without confusing things even further!

Is there any reason why you didn't just use the quote option as usual?

Edited July 4 by Sue
Clarification

[Angelina]

Let's see if we can get a key so the notice board can actually be updated by someone who cares and has time (thank you Jellybeanz, if you want to do that, and if Sue can get a key), or we can have a group of key holders and content managers. It's not hard is it.

There's not really any point having one if it doesn't have information

[Jellybeanz]

1 hour ago, Angelina said:

Let's see if we can get a key so the notice board can actually be updated by someone who cares and has time (thank you Jellybeanz, if you want to do that, and if Sue can get a key), or we can have a group of key holders and content managers. It's not hard is it.

There's not really any point having one if it doesn't have information

Good idea - Sue are you happy to speak to the owner of Health Matters? Thanks

[Nigello]

I don’t want the gatekeepers/key holders deciding what or what doesn’t merit being on the board. It’s for council/municipal information only. It’s not right that commercial or political parties or social campaigners be allowed to take advantage of such a facility. So, if the key holder can work with the relevant councillor/s, this would be a great idea. If not, it woudn’t. 

[Sue]

37 minutes ago, Jellybeanz said:

Good idea - Sue are you happy to speak to the owner of Health Matters? Thanks

Yes.

I had already offered to do so  some time ago if you are not able to do this yourself.

Monica is not in there every day, and it is holiday season at the moment. I will try to catch up with her in the next few weeks.

I assume there is no hurry as this has been dragging on for so long.

I will find out whether there was more than one key holder, or whether there was one for every notice board. Also whether the same key (or copies of the same key)  was used for each board.

I will also find out how Monica  liaised with the relevant people on the council and what their job titles were

I will ask what system there was for ensuring that only neutral and non commercial information is displayed on the boards, for getting that information and for updating it.

Before I speak to Monica, it would be helpful to know if jellybeanz is offering to be the key holder for all the noticeboards and keep them up to date, or alternatively if anybody else apart from jellybeanz is willing to have a key.

Please private message me if you prefer.

I should make it clear that I am not offering to be a key holder or to be involved in this any further than I have outlined above.

And also that I am not "getting a key". I am just finding out more from Monica.

I feel that it would have been helpful to have addressed these practical issues at the outset.

Edited July 4 by Sue

[alice]

It may be that the original purpose of the noticeboards could be changed to suit the changing needs of the ‘community’

[Jenijenjen]

If commercial concerns are able to use the noticeboards to advertise their businesses, will they be charged a commercial fee?

[alice]

Hmm I suppose it depends on the decision of whoever is ‘in charge’  of the noticeboards and the nbs expressed purpose. 

[Sue]

There has already been pages of discussion about this. Please read the whole thread if you haven't already.

These are community notice boards and not for the use of  local commercial businesses.

I need this to be quite clear before I spend  time on it, because if they are to be used for commercial purposes then I am not willing to be involved at all, and shan't be speaking to Monica 

Edited July 4 by Sue

[alice]

I’ve read the thread, but no one on the thread has authority over the noticeboards. There must be something written somewhere spelling out the purpose of them;  if they’re not serving that purpose maybe the purpose should change.  I’m interested, not because I have a business which I wish to advertise, but because I’ve seen noticeboards elsewhere that have a richer more reflective feel maybe a bit like a physical manifestation of the What’s on on section of this forum but more 

Edited July 4 by alice

[Sue]

18 minutes ago, alice said:

I’ve read the thread, but no one on the thread has authority over the noticeboards. There must be something written somewhere spelling out the purpose of them;  if they’re not serving that purpose maybe the purpose should change.  I’m interested, not because I have a business which I wish to advertise, but because I’ve seen noticeboards elsewhere that have a richer more reflective feel maybe a bit like a physical manifestation of the What’s on on section of this forum. 

I agree that someone somewhere must at one point decided on their purpose, however if anything was ever written down it is probably long lost, given the turnover of councillors and council staff .

The Crofton Park noticeboards I mentioned above are solely for information about the council  and various community groups and activities, plus  various community related things such as the library times and services.

 I think they are very bright, interesting and inviting, however I am not going back there solely in order to take a photo

The ones in East Dulwich don't have much on them because ... well, for the reasons on this thread 🤣

Quite apart from the fact that these are supposed to be community notice boards, there are all sorts of reasons why they should not be used for private businesses to advertise, as I and others have already said.

Yes there have been huge changes in the area, but I can't see how those changes affect the purpose of community noticeboards, unless you think that the changes mean that there is no longer a "community" in East Dulwich.

Which would be very sad indeed.

Anyway, I am stepping away from this thread now, I have other things to do 🙄

Edited July 4 by Sue

[Jellybeanz]

2 hours ago, Sue said:

Yes.

I had already offered to do so  some time ago if you are not able to do this yourself.

Monica is not in there every day, and it is holiday season at the moment. I will try to catch up with her in the next few weeks.

I assume there is no hurry as this has been dragging on for so long.

I will find out whether there was more than one key holder, or whether there was one for every notice board. Also whether the same key (or copies of the same key)  was used for each board.

I will also find out how Monica  liaised with the relevant people on the council and what their job titles were

I will ask what system there was for ensuring that only neutral and non commercial information is displayed on the boards, for getting that information and for updating it.

Before I speak to Monica, it would be helpful to know if jellybeanz is offering to be the key holder for all the noticeboards and keep them up to date, or alternatively if anybody else apart from jellybeanz is willing to have a key.

Please private message me if you prefer.

I should make it clear that I am not offering to be a key holder or to be involved in this any further than I have outlined above.

And also that I am not "getting a key". I am just finding out more from Monica.

I feel that it would have been helpful to have addressed these practical issues at the outset.

I agree... perhaps you could also write to our local councillors to point these things out. Never know they might actually reply!

Thanks for your help speaking to Monica. She may hopefully have useful contacts re obtaining a key.

54 minutes ago, alice said:

I’ve read the thread, but no one on the thread has authority over the noticeboards. There must be something written somewhere spelling out the purpose of them;  if they’re not serving that purpose maybe the purpose should change.  I’m interested, not because I have a business which I wish to advertise, but because I’ve seen noticeboards elsewhere that have a richer more reflective feel maybe a bit like a physical manifestation of the What’s on on section of this forum but more 

Completely agree - what's on (which could include some small businesses  such as Theatre Peckham, which I think may be a charity or at least community not for profit? And school fairs type thing..) plus anything the community would find useful, such as free events for the elderly (LinkAge are active in ED and surrounding areas) and lots more.

[Jenijenjen]

I don't think anyone would object to the examples you have given being given space in the noticeboard (Theatre Peckham is a registered charity) and I think reflect the original intentions behind their introduction. I would not like to see advertisements for purely commercial enterprises e.g yoga studios, cafes, tradesmen which would not be in keeping with the original purpose.

[Pugwash]

Originally when the Community Notice Boards were installed, one key opened all within a certain area. As these got vandalised,, new locks were put on and keys changed.

[Sue]

7 hours ago, Pugwash said:

Originally when the Community Notice Boards were installed, one key opened all within a certain area. As these got vandalised,, new locks were put on and keys changed.

Thank you, Pugwash. That's really useful information.

Do you know who was responsible for the locks and keys, or which council department?

Could you PM me if you don't want to put someone's personal details on here? 

It may save me having to speak to Monica.

Thanks.

[Pugwash]

Our residents' association used to have keys many moons ago, but when locks were changed, we tried everyone (including ward councillors) to get keys to no avail. A couple of boards are not locked.

The Community Councils originally paid for all the notice boards in Dulwich. May have come under the Cleaner Greener budget.

[Sue]

6 hours ago, Pugwash said:

Our residents' association used to have keys many moons ago, but when locks were changed, we tried everyone (including ward councillors) to get keys to no avail. A couple of boards are not locked.

The Community Councils originally paid for all the notice boards in Dulwich. May have come under the Cleaner Greener budget.

That's really helpful.

Do the Community Councils still exist?

It sounds to me that whoever the contact is on the council who has sorted out the North Cross Road notice board and put the new list of councillors in it must at least have access to the key for that one? Unless it was one of the unlocked ones.

And of course if somebody knows where the keys are, they may have no idea that people are looking for them or that this forum thread exists.

Which are the notice boards which are not locked? 

The very helpful locksmith near the station (?Callows?)  might be able to provide keys for them, or if not, new locks, in return for some local publicity?

In fact, they may be able to advise in general, rather than keep trying unresponsive people at the council.

But then of course there is still the question of who is going to take responsibility for putting appropriate East Dulwich community information into them and updating it as necessary.

[Pugwash]

Unlocked board - opposite Dry Cleaners  near Sainsbury Local. I think the Underhill/Barry Road may be an unlocked on.

LBS are bringing back a form of Community Council Meetings - there is one at Charter School (Jarvis Road entrance) tomorrow (Wednesday)

[Pugwash]

 

Unlocked board - opposite Dry Cleaners  near Sainsbury Local. I think the Underhill/Barry Road may be an unlocked on.

LBS are bringing back a form of Community Council Meetings - there is one at Charter School (Jarvis Road entrance) tomorrow (Wednesday)

ERROR - Meeting was last week (Wednesday)   got confused with dates - a senior moment  !